now we're seeing that egypt is continuing to play that role. obviously in public israel has a much different stance than -- i'm sorry, egypt has a much different stance. officials have come to gaza. they have publicly said they're standing shoulder to shoulder with hamas and the palestinian people. they've called israel's action acts of aggression, they've called on it to stop, but they are also playing a very significant role and they are the key brokers now with israel, and as far as we know, they've been sitting face to face with an israeli envoy to hammer out a cease-fire which includes hamas and all the other players in this region. so the u.s. appears to be quite satisfied with what egypt is doing. u.s. has said they don't want to see a ground war while constantly saying that they obviously support israel's right to self-defense. >> and christiane what about the palestinians on the west bank not aligned with hamas. what is the palestinian government saying there? >> reporter: well, you know, again, this whole situation is such an almighty